How To Live a Life of Passion and Purpose

‘Don’t worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do that because what the world needs is people who have come alive.’

-Howard Thurman

What is Passion?

Passion is an intense emotion, a compelling enthusiasm or, a desire for something. We’ve all heard the phrase and have probably been advised by friends and family to ‘Follow your Passion’.

What if you don’t know what that passion is? For some, finding a life of passion can be easy. For others, it is a journey and a way to find purpose in their lives. Whatever is it for you, living a life of passion will naturally lead you to your purpose. Your life will be full, your health and happiness will flourish and you will attract more positivity. Leading yourself towards a life of passion and purpose improves your quality of life, it gives you zest so you wake up in the morning with excitement, ready to face your day.

Being passionate may mean that you have strong opinions, support a cause, strive toward perfection or simply want to be the best person you can. To those of us who are passionate, our approach to life is carefree and we are grateful for life’s ups and downs. We believe that trials and tribulations are opportunities for growth and improvement so that we can perfect our passions, do what we love and spread the energy to others.

All of us have passion, it may be hidden somewhere deep behind fears from our past, fear of failure or it may have been drowned out by an experience or relationship that created insecurity and lack of drive, but it is there to be nurtured and cultivated into something wonderful. It makes up happy and drives us to succeed or overcome whatever life throws our way. However, the big question remains: if you don’t know your passion or have lost it how can you hone in on it to create purpose? When we think about purpose it should naturally elicit a feeling of passion toward something in our lives. It may be something current that you are engaging in or something that you participated in years before. Whatever it is, it gave you drive, incentive and made you happy.

Happiness is the Key

The key word in all of this is ‘Happy’. Being happy should be the side effect; the cause and effect of doing something you love and that makes you feel whole and complete. When you have isolated those feelings to the things you are passionate about it provides the framework for all other areas of your life. Your willingness to teach and share your affection and spread your energy will be part of your life’s purpose and keep the happiness alive. You will attract similar energy and new opportunities will arise from it.

Why Find a Life of Passion and Purpose?

The reasons for wanting to find and live a life of passion and purpose are obvious. It makes us complete, it allows us to lead by example, so we can spread the energy and motivate others to feel the elation of having a purpose and that alone can change your health. Over the years, I have spent time observing successful people and have concluded that what separates them from others, is that they are significantly motivated and live life to the fullest. They are not afraid to try new things or embark on new adventures because through following their dreams they learned that failure is an illusion. You cannot fail at something you love, you will only miss out on an opportunity for growth and fulfillment. The idea that the ‘world is your oyster’ is a motto that successful people live by. According to Jack Canfield, Identifying, acknowledging and honouring a life of purpose is the most important action successful people take. What they do different, is that they take the time to understand what they are here to do. Once they know what that is they pursue it with devotion and enthusiasm.

A Life of Passion and Purpose Creates Success

Successful people are passionate about their life’s purpose, they are always looking ahead at what can be instead of what is and this gives them something to look forward to. They feel needed, that their life’s work is to serve, to teach or contribute to the greater good of our society. Those emotions can elevate serotonin levels and release those feel-good hormones so that our cortisol levels (our fight or flight response hormones) stay at healthy levels. Not to mention that those optimistic feelings make us more likely to engage in healthy behaviours like exercise and eating right in order to keep blood pressure low, reduce feelings of pain and stiffness and create a feeling of general well-being.

So in an attempt to find your life of passion and therefore your purpose, there are a few things you need to think about that will help lead you down the path of health, fulfillment, and happiness. Everything I have read and every seminar I have attended has isolated the thought process to a few simple questions for deep contemplation.

If you had all the money in the world, how would you spend your time?
This is an important question. Financial stability will give you the opportunity to do anything you want, so choosing to do something fulfilling is a huge endeavour.

What would your perfect day look like?
Think about whether your day will be full of movement, meetings, excitement, volunteer work, or business deals. Imagine filling your hours with activities, people or events that are mind inspiring and motivating.

What activities set your soul on fire?
There are certain things that really spark your imagination and make you feel so inspired that you want to spread that feeling to the world.

What do you love to do?
The things that get you through your week and looking forward to your weekends are the generally the things you love to do. So if you’re looking for passion and purpose remind yourself that your extracurricular activities are inspiring.

What is your Heart Telling you?
We each have our own inner guidance, a personal GPS that tells us how to get where we want to go. Like a GPS system in your car, you must indicate where you want to go from where you are and the system will guide you. So be clear with yourself about your intentions and what direction your heart is telling you to go and then follow it toward your purpose.

Make a Vision Board
With every vision, photo or statement you add to vision board you are confirming where you want to be and you are sending requests to the universe. Then you sit back and stay focused on your vision. Avoid negative self-talk and thoughts that will keep you from reaching your purpose.

The answers to the above questions will reveal why you are here and how you feel fulfilled. Once you find it, just go with it and watch your life transform. When you are happy and the passion is flowing try to spread that high energy to those around you and since ‘like attracts like’ you will be a magnet for high energy people who will share your passions and help you serve your purpose.

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About the Author

Dr. Claudia Machiella owns and operates one of the GTA’s leading chiropractic clinics. Since 2001 Dr. Claudia Machiella has grown and built her practice and has been a Chiropractic advocate in her community. Most recently she has opened a second location in Vaughan in order to provide increased accessibility to chiropractic so that more people […]